Monthly Archives: October 2008

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Happy NaNoWriMo everyone. National Novel Writing Month starts November 1. It’s a great idea. Write a 50,000 word novella novel in thirty days. I’m not going to do it even though it’s a great way to switch off the inner critic (because it’s all about the numbers) and just write. As the NaNoWriMo folks say,

“Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good
thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving
yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and
editing and just create. To build without tearing down.“

Like this:

One of the tenets of selling books is the need for word of mouth. Thomas Nelson publishing has come up with one way to create that buzz about a book–give books away. Bloggers can receive free copies of select Thomas Nelson products. Their stipulation is that, in exchange, you must agree to read the book and post a 200-word review, good, bad, or ugly, on your blog and on Amazon.com.

Their market niche is (in alphabetical order):

Bibles

Biblical Reference

Business & Culture

Children’s

Family Entertainment

Fiction

General Interest & Lifestyle

Gift Books

Practical Living

Small Group Curriculum

Spanish

Spiritual Growth & Christian Thought

Young Adult

Michael Hyatt, President and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, goal is to “recruit 10,000 active bloggers … use the reviews to jump-start the most important component of any marketing campaign: word-of-mouth.” For more information got to his website, From Where I Sit, for more details.

Goldberg contends that the Transportation Security Administration is concerned with catching the lowest of the low hanging fruit when it comes to potential terrorists. He calls this the Hawley Principle, named for the head of the TSA, Kip Hawley. Goldberg offers Hawsley’s own words as evidence ( from the TSA’s blog):

Clever terrorists can use innovative ways to exploit vulnerabilities. But don’t forget that most bombers are not, in fact, clever. Living bomb-makers are usually clever, but the person agreeing to carry it may not be super smart. Even if “all” we do is stop dumb terrorists, we are reducing risk.